True definition of running bad.

How do you know that your running bad? What does that even mean, for as long I have been playing poker I have heard people talking about how bad they run. Which I find hilarious because I feel as if no one in the world of poker runs half as bad as I run, but obviously I’m bias. After many frustrating years of bad beats and bricked draws I have become an expert at running bad. When analyzing a bad run I like to look at what makes it difficult. Obviously Poker is a frustrating game. Texas Hold ‘em especially no Limit is probably the most frustrating (That’s why it’s so popular) but running bad is different than a couple a tough beats here in there. To truly understand running bad you have to understand the situations.

1. Never Picking up a hand - This is the most common run bad that people suffer. Simply sitting at the table for hours but never picking up quality starting hands. I once went on a stretch where I never picked up a pair of eights or better for nearly 400 straight hands. While this is the most common form of running bad it is the easiest to handle. Any player has the option to simply tighten up their game and wait for big hands.

2. Never Catch someone else with 2^nd best - This is one running bad that few people ever look at. This can be extremely frustrating especially when you are always getting stuck with 2^nd best. It is even more frustrating in a game like NL hold ‘em where one big hand can make your night. Really there is no way to correct this because it is purely situational. The best thing to do is to simply continue to play your style in the hopes that you will finally be on the right side of a second best situation.

3. Always end up getting Coolered - This is the one that for me is the most difficult to handle. Everyone who plays poker has been coolered before. I look at a cooler a little different than a bad beat. To me a bad beat is a straight forward beat that is common in poker. For instance AA vs. KK all in pre flop is a bad beat no matter what happens. Kings are unlucky because they ran into the only starting hand that can beat them, or Aces or unlucky because the best starting hand got cracked. A cooler takes into count many circumstances. One of the best example of this is in a limit game when a small pair calls all the way down on a board with over cards and then finally connects on the river. Another of my favorite coolers is when you make a flush only to be beat by a bigger flush. This beat is also one of the more frustrating ones for me because you can never get that money back.

4. People always seem to have you pegged - This is a term I picked up from playing NL online. It is so frustrating when your opponent seems to make the perfect size bet every time. Let’s say your in the early stages of a tournament and you limp from late with a suited Ace. The blinds are 10 - 20 and you flop four to a flush. The pot is maybe $100 and some idiot just shoves for $3000. Obviously you have to fold and some people might even want to give credit to the Suicide King who shoves on the flop. If this has never happened to you then consider yourself lucky because you have never really run bad. So much has to be in play for this to take place.

1. You have to be able to limp from late with a suited Ace

2. You have to flop 4 to the flush

3. Someone has to grossly over bet the pot

This is a controversial running bad facet because many will argue that your play lead to this situation That by limping into the pot put you put yourself in that spot. There is some validity to that but still it is a difficult spot to be in.

5. Irony - This covers a wide range of things at the poker table. I was playing poker one day in Downtown Las Vegas. It was a particularly difficult session and I tried all kinds of things to keep my head focused and my mind mentally stimulated in the game. I tightened up, then I loosened up. I tried to be LAG then TAG and nothing seemed to work. Finally I decided to take a walk and clear my head. As I took in the sights and sounds on Freemont, I started to feel better and told myself that my time would come just wait for a good spot to get my money in. Finally I came back to the table and set down. I could see that the table had become wild and aggressive and I believed that I would need some patients to have a chance. I waited for my big blind and looked down to see KJ off. To my surprise it was not raised preflop and I got a free look. The flop came perfect A-Q-10 with 2 clubs. I slow played the flop and got action on the turn when a off suit 5 hit. Long story short all the money goes in and before I can even blink another 5 has hit the board and my opponent shows me 10 - 5 off for the full house.

6. There is no point in having a big pair - This is another one of the common run bad situations no matter what Large pair you have the flop instantly kills it. If it’s AA it’s a flop that has 3 flush cards on it, if it’s KK then and Ace comes, if it’s QQ then a King comes and if an over card does not come someone flops a set. It almost becomes meaningless to get dealt a big pair.

7. Tournament hand but no cash game hands - This is by far the number one reason why I hate playing tournaments. When I go into long funks of running bad in cash games it seems that I never win a pot. So I get into a tournament and what happens in the first few rounds I run like a house on fire and build a nice stack, only to inevitably get busted out short of the money. These pots won in a cash game would get my on the right track however in a tournament they are simply a reminder to how unlucky I truly am.

Going through long stretches of these things individually can be difficult enough when you go through them all at once like I do then you are truly running bad.

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